Khamtai Siphandon

Khamtai Siphandon (8 February 1924-) was Prime Minister of Laos from 15 August 1991 to 24 February 1998 (succeeding Kaysone Phomvihane and preceding Sisavath Keobounphanh), President of Laos from 24 February 1998 to 8 June 2006 (succeeding Nouhak Phoumsavanh and preceding Choummaly Sayasone), and Chairman of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party from 24 November 1992 to 21 March 2006 (succeeding Phomvihane and preceding Sayasone).

Biography
Khamtai Siphandon was born in 1924 to a family of peasants in southern Laos, and he joined the Lao Issara liberation movement at the end of World War II. He became an officer in the movement's armed wing and joined the Vietnamese-backed Pathet Lao in 1950, also joining the Indochinese Communist Party in 1954 and then joining the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party in 1957. In 1962, he became Chief-of-Staff of the Pathet Lao, and he became its commander-in-chief in 1966 during the Laotian Civil War. In 1972, he joined the LPRP Politburo. After the communist takeover in 1975, he became Minister of Defense, and he served as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1998, Chairman of the LPRP Central Committee from 1992 to 2006, and President from 1998 to 2006.